Running back Knowshon Moreno, taking a handoff from quarterback Chris Simms at training camp Sunday, carries high expectations into his rookie season with the Broncos. But the first-round draft pick and former Georgia star has plenty of competition for playing time.

It is the one, and only, time when all involved wish they could carry the ball like a loaf of bread.

Wish it were sliced, with plenty to go around.

“But no, that ain’t how it works,” Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter said with a smile.

No, it doesn’t. It is the simple math of a football team’s running game — there is only one ball.

And the Broncos have a long line of running backs waiting to carry it each and every day, a long line to show what they can bring to the offense, to show why they should have it and the others should not.

The line got a tad longer Sunday when rookie Knowshon Moreno, one of the Broncos’ two first-round draft picks, was on the practice field for the first time at training camp. Moreno missed eight days of camp before the Broncos finished negotiations on his contract.

“It’s a tough spot in there. There’s a lot of competition, and if you’re a football player, this is where you want to be, but this is also where everybody else wants to be too,” said second-year running back Ryan Torain. “Once you get any opportunity out there, you can’t let it slip through your fingers.”

So these guys don’t have to do the math, they are living it. And unlike the last 14 seasons under Mike Shanahan, Denver’s offense figures to feature just one running back in the formation much of the time, not two.

That means those who do not get the carries or make enough impact cannot simply give the fullback spot a try to keep their place on the roster, because the Broncos simply won’t use one very often.

“So at practice when you’re in there, it’s got to be like a game, and you try to get every inch out of every run,” Torain said. “Don’t go to sleep out there.”

Five running backs are on the roster with a sixth position player — linebacker and fullback Spencer Larsen — having all split carries in practices so far. That was before the sixth full-time back — Moreno — was welcomed to the party with plenty of guaranteed money in tow.

Moreno will need some time to get up to speed, but the Broncos will certainly try to get their prized rookie from Georgia into the mix as quickly as possible. So there will be drills when each back may get only one or two carries before the next part of practice begins.

And some days it will be your day and some days it will not. How a back deals with that aspect can often dictate as much about his future as what he does with the ball in his hands.

“This happened to me once in Oakland,” veteran running back LaMont Jordan said. “I remember when I was going through the whole (thing), they would tell me they didn’t know if I was dressing (for a game), and I knew I wasn’t dressing just based on the fact I wasn’t getting offensive reps or scout team reps during the week. So you stand around and wonder when the ball is going to come your way.

“I would tell any young guy to keep working through those times and hop in there when they need somebody in the drills, on the scout team, and keep going in until the coach tells you to get out. Be smart. You know you’re not getting any reps on offense, but they call the scout team, hop in there every time until the coach tells you to get out.”

The danger zone, all of the backs said, is when a running back gets frustrated, lets his mind drift and doesn’t keep himself engaged in what’s going on around him when he is told to enter the offense and take some snaps.

That running back then makes mistakes, misses a block here, goes the wrong direction there, or simply doesn’t appear ready for more work and is often handed an airplane ticket to someplace else if the trend keeps up.

“Think positive, don’t play negative, and know your plays,” Buckhalter said. “You pout, mope around and then your turn comes and you don’t know what you’re supposed to do, they say, ‘Get out, get somebody else in here,’ and that’s it. You didn’t even have time to buckle your helmet, and you already lost your chance because you didn’t do it right. So always keep the frame of mind where your turn is coming, then you’re ready when it does.”

“It’s like anything,” Jordan said. “If you ask somebody to do something, on your house, your car or on the field, and they don’t do it right, it’s not like you’re going to go out of your way to ask them again. So be ready to do it right or somebody else will, pretty simple.”

More in Sports

Big Sunday at the sold-out PC, where the Avalanche never trailed in a 5-1 victory over Detroit. Given the score and the circumstance, our game story is all about Nathan MacKinnon and his Hart Trophy candidacy.